Chapter 68: Battle of Beijing-Hankow Line (8)

Xu Shuzheng planned to take this opportunity to seize the military power of the fourth town as someone who refused to save him. Zeng Yujun did not say it in person, but opposed it in private. There was also a fierce fight within the Beiyang Army. Chen Guangyuan and

The relationship with Feng Guozhang is closer.

In the end, Duan Qirui made the decision to abandon Hankou, and the 11th Mixed Association went north to Xinyang to replenish its troops, waiting for another battle.

After the telegram was sent out, Duan Qirui sent another telegram to Yuan Shikai in Beijing, saying: We originally wanted to defend Hankou, but Chen Guangyuan advocated that Hankou was difficult to defend, so we allowed him to defend Xiaogan. He also used the Eleventh Alliance to go north to Xinyang to defeat the enemy in the north first.

Yuan Shikai had a very disturbing day. When he woke up from a nightmare last night, it turned out to be the time when the Anhui Revolutionary Army launched an attack. Fang Jianxiong brazenly launched a battle, which was completely unimaginable to Yuan Shikai. First of all, the peace talks between the north and the south were already in progress.

Starting with Shanghai, then the obvious threat of the British is there. Finally, with the strength of the Anhui Army, can it defeat the tens of thousands of Beiyang Army?

As for the last point, Fang Jianxiong is not confident, but in a sense, this battle is impossible without fighting. Without fighting this battle, Fang Jianxiong's right to speak will be completely taken away, which is absolutely intolerable.

Yuan Shikai couldn't understand, but he couldn't understand that when something happened, he had to deal with it head-on. In the past, his Beiyang Army took the initiative to beat others, but now it was his turn to be beaten. This feeling was not pleasant.

A group of political and military staff quickly gathered together. Except for Yang Shiqi, who went south to assist Tang Shaoyi in the peace talks, everyone else was here. Fang Jianxiong had previously promised to fight, but no one really took it seriously. When Fang Jianxiong seemed to have offended the British, most of the people here were

According to people's opinions, Fang Jianxiong's death is not far away.

After discussing for a day, a group of staff came up with some suggestions, which were roughly divided into three points. First, based on defeating the Anhui army on the battlefield. This is fundamental. Second, to strengthen contact with Nanjing and Shanghai and ask them to isolate Fang Jianxiong.

In order to safeguard the overall situation of the peace talks. Third, step up diplomatic campaigns and use the help of the British to cut off Fang Jianxiong's possible foreign aid.

With these three points as the basis, the staff felt that the problem was not serious. Fang Jianxiong, a stupid young man, was doomed.

In this era, those who dare to provoke Beiyang will almost always have a doomed outcome. This is probably the consensus of these people. The reason is that Beiyang has always gathered all the talents and material resources in the world regardless of politics, economy and military. The Beiyang Army is even more like Yuan Shikai

The product of years of painstaking efforts, the failure of the 11th Mixed Association was seen by everyone as being caused by underestimating the enemy. Ni Sichong, Jiang Guiti, these old warlords are more cunning than the other. Who knows whether they have ever fought a serious war?

The staff around Yuan Shikai are all good people. It is precisely because they are too shrewd and see people and things so clearly, and Fang Jianxiong is so different, that these good people often make mistakes in their judgments.

Throughout the whole scene, one person never spoke. This person was Feng Guozhang. After the defeat of Hanyang, Yuan Shikai made some adjustments on the Wuhan battlefield due to pressure from all walks of life. As a result, it seemed to people that Feng Guozhang was dismissed because of the defeat.

Adjustment. There is another theory that there was a rift between Feng Guozhang and Yuan Shikai.

Regardless of which version he said, Feng Guozhang remained silent at such an important meeting and looked stern, which naturally attracted Yuan Shikai's attention.

"Hua Fu, why haven't you spoken?" Yuan Shikai looked very relaxed. In fact, he was not at ease either. The defeat of the 11th Alliance was not that simple.

"Sir, I have been thinking about how to defeat Fang Jianxiong openly on the battlefield, but I can't find a good way. Summarizing the battle of Hanyang, the tactics used by the Anhui army, and equipment training, etc., the comprehensive strength is already in my hands

Above the Beiyang Army." Feng Guozhang's words were astonishing, and everyone was stunned.

If others say this, they will definitely be dragged out to make a living and be unable to take care of themselves. When Feng Guozhang said this, it is another interest. I am here to help you. When it comes to military affairs, no one can compare with Feng Guozhang. There is a saying that Yuan Shikai wrote it

The military training manual was actually written by the Three Beiyang Heroes. Among the Three Beiyang Heroes, there has always been a saying that Feng Guozhang was the strongest militarily.

"Do you mean what Hua Fu said?" Yuan Shikai's expression changed, and his body straightened up slightly from sitting still.

"How dare you tell lies in front of your lord?" As soon as he finished speaking, a telegram came from outside the door. The telegram sent by Duan Qirui, Yuan Shikai read directly to everyone in Yangdu. "Abandoning Hankou and maintaining filial piety is a good policy.

, the staff department has approved it." When he heard this, Yuan Shikai twisted his body uneasily.

Finally, I finished reading the telegram, and everyone understood the general idea. The Anhui Army's offensive was fierce, and the patrol battalion formed into the 11th Association and the assisting defense could not withstand it. Chen Guangyuan, the commander of Hankou, did not advocate the defense of Hankou, but insisted on keeping filial piety.

.In other words, Duan Qirui is unlikely to mobilize Chen Guangyuan.

Yuan Shikai asked Feng Guozhang again: "Hua Fu, what do you think?"

Feng Guozhang said without hesitation: "Reducing the number of troops is a safe strategy. In this way, no matter how cunning Fang Ni is and all his tricks, it will be difficult to work. In addition, there is a danger of winning the pass by force, and it is basically hopeless for Fang Ni to go north again. Zhiquan

We can concentrate our forces to deal with the enemies moving from the north to the south without any worries and avoid the dilemma of fighting on two fronts."

This was an issue judged from a military perspective, but Yuan Shikai never expressed his position. He squinted his eyes, and a cold look seemed to be in a dissociated state. There was a subtle expression in the atmosphere at the scene, and the relaxation on everyone's face was consciously put away.

At this time, another telegram came, this time from Chen Guangyuan. The content was very simple: the 11th Allied Defense Line was breached, Hankou fell, the patrol battalion was almost wiped out, and a few escaped into the concession.

Feng Guozhang stood up and said loudly: "Sir, Fang Jianxiong studied in Germany, and he has a great talent like Jiang Baili as the chief of staff. This man has worked hard in Wuhu for many years, and the troops he has trained are almost unrivaled in the country. Zhu Jingtian (Zhu Jingtian)

A person like Jiabao) fell into his hands, which shows that this person has great plans and deep intentions, and must not be taken lightly."

Yuan Shikai finally spoke, glanced at Feng Guozhang, and said slowly: "Hua Fu, go to Xinyang and tell Zhiquan what you said here today. We cannot afford to lose the battle of the Beijing-Hankow Line.

!”

"Yes, sir!" Feng Guozhang saluted and accepted the order. Yuan Shikai said to Yang Shixiang: "Brother Pingshi, please quickly telegraph Sun Muhan and ask him and his delegation from Hanyang to represent himself with full authority to persuade Fang Jianxiong to value peace and that both sides stop fighting.

.The condition Fang Jianxiong proposed last time was to promise him the territory and not mention the money."

Yang Shixiang stood up to accept the order, and Yuan Shikai said to Yang Du: "Telegram to Shanghai. First, order Wang Zhaoming to do his best to mediate and lobby the alliance to reach a staged result of peace as soon as possible. Second, promise that as long as Yuan can become president, he will persuade them to withdraw."

Clean the room."

After making these arrangements, Yuan Shikai stood up and said: "Come, prepare the car, I want to see the British Minister."

Yuan Shikai did not give random instructions on how to fight the war, but left it to Duan Qirui and Feng Guozhang. However, there was still a sense of checks and balances. Old Yuan was used to doing this.

On the other hand, Fang Jianxiong basically became the boss. The Northern Front was completely left to Jiang Fangzhen. Fang Jianxiong did not know that although Jiang Fangzhen was very famous, he had never led troops to fight in the history. Jiang Fangzhen was famous because he got it while studying in Japan.

The first place among non-commissioned officers, the Emperor gave him a sword. It was a severe humiliation to the Japanese.

Personally, Jiang Fangzhen's strategic vision was indeed advanced. Since he never commanded a battle in a real sense, later historians and scholars somewhat doubted Chiang's ability to lead troops. This is probably because Jiang Fangzhen was the first to propose the strategy of protracted war.

The historical period was completely obliterated and disappeared.

On the northern front, Jiang Fangzhen also felt tremendous pressure. The Battle of Hankou had already begun. The purpose was naturally to use the attack to attract the attention of the Beiyang Army and reduce the pressure on the northern front.

When Jiang Fangzhen received Fang Jianxiong's telegram, the pressure on Jiang Fangzhen increased. Chen Guangyuan actually did not save Hankou, but retreated to Xiaogan. As a result, Fang Jianxiong's plan to send reinforcements failed, and at the same time, his hope of mobilizing the Beiyang Army also failed.

The telegram reported the battle situation in Hankou. Wang Jinglue's troops formed a breakthrough in the middle, and Tian Jiyang's troops formed a flanking attack on Hankou. After the battle ended at dusk, the Qing army's patrol battalion stationed in Hankou received Chen Guangyuan's order to retreat.

It fell into chaos. The Eleventh Mixed Association in the direction of Caidian put up a very high-level resistance after being broken through on the front line. It was difficult for the Anyi Department to expand the results. The Eleventh Association took advantage of the dusk and slowly retreated to Xiaogan. Although the Battle of Hankou

The winner was decided in one day, but the 11th Mixed Association, as the main force of the Beiyang Army, suffered losses of more than a thousand people. On the other hand, the losses of the Anyi Brigade were basically around this number. Recovering Hankou and encircling and annihilating thousands of patrol battalions was of little significance.

, and did not harm the main force of the Beiyang Army. It can be seen that the main opponent today is still the Beiyang Army. Even the 11th Mixed Association, which was defeated twice by the First Brigade, performed quite tenaciously in this battle.

Fang Jianxiong also emphasized in the message that he had underestimated the world's heroes. This Chen Guangyuan was not generally difficult to deal with. Fang Jianxiong judged that Chen Guangyuan should have seen through Fang Jianxiong's strategic vision. Due to Chen Guangyuan's retreat, although Hankou was recovered,

But originally scheduled

The strategy of joining forces under Xinyang City is very likely to fail. Fang Jianxiong analyzed in the message that there are still nearly 20,000 Beiyang troops and patrol battalions in Xinyang. If the attack on the Ruhe defense line cannot be successful within three days, they should give up decisively and retreat.

Wanbei to avoid being attacked by the third town from the south.

After reading Fang Jianxiong's telegram, Jiang Fangzhen immediately convened a military meeting overnight to make arrangements for the attack to be launched tomorrow morning.

In the dusk, Hanyang was full of laughter and laughter. The recapture of Hankou had become a foregone conclusion. Currently, more than 3,000 prisoners had been captured. No matter how you look at it, this is a huge victory that is about to come.

When Fang Jianxiong returned to the headquarters, he showed no joy at all. Instead, he looked even more serious. Therefore, the atmosphere inside the headquarters was incompatible with the outside. (To be continued)
Chapter completed!